Ecothrive Biosys - The Magic of Microbes! [Q&A]

What is Ecothrive Biosys?

Biosys is a concentrated powder that you add to water or a nutrient solution to make what we call a ‘microbe tea’.

Interesting. What does it do?

In a nutshell, Biosys increases root mass, improves plant growth, wards off pathogens and builds plants defences.

Sounds great! So how does Biosys promote plant & root growth?

The microbes in Biosys are activated by the catalysts when applied to the root zone. Root growth is stimulated, nutrient uptake is increased, water availability is improved and the breakdown of organic matter occurs at a faster rate.

This has a noticeable effect on plant growth and root growth.

Good stuff. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Firstly, Biosys contains 8 species of endomycorrhizal fungi, a beneficial fungus for the roots that improves water availability and nutrient uptake, most importantly phosphorus.

To do this, the mycorrhizal fungi establish exchange sites in plant root cells. Through these sites, your plant feeds the fungi sugars.

In return, the fungi gathers water and nutrients through its fungal network and transports them directly to the plant. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship.

Some bacillus species and a nitrogen fixing bacteria called Azospirillum in Biosys are ‘mycorrhizae helper bacteria’ – they help the mycorrhizae establish and function.

Pretty cool, right?

Biosys also contains 8 species of Bacillus, these perform many roles in the root zone, one of which is assisting mycorrhizae. Another, is making locked up minerals soluble and available to your plants.

The Bacillus, along with 2 species of Pseudomonas and Trichoderma, also help degrade complex organic matter so it can be converted to nutrition.

Then there’s the Azotobacter and Azosiprillium – nitrogen fixing bacteria that live close to the root surface. They take nitrogen from air and turn it into a form plants can use.

Some of the Bacillus, Pseudomonas and nitrogen fixers are also classed as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR’s).

These clever organisms produce hormone substances, such as cytokinins and auxins, that help promote root development and other kinds of growth!

Awesome. And what about disease prevention?

So, Biosys contains 2 species of Trichoderma - beneficial fungi that are great at degrading other fungi and pathogens. Specifically, they’re known to help fight Pythium!

The Bacillus and 2 species of Pseudomonas in Biosys also help with pathogen control.

Fascinating stuff! Can you tell us about microbial catalysts in Biosys?

The microbial food sources in Biosys are carbohydrates, humic acid, seaweed extract, amino acids and proteins.

They help the microorganisms in Biosys grow steadily, into a balanced community in the root zone.

There are lots of microbial products you can buy for your gardens, but very few supply food sources with them, like Biosys does.

It’s worth noting that some of these catalysts also improve plant growth and growing media conditions. The seaweed extract and amino acids aid plant growth. The humic acids improve nutrient exchange in the growing media.

So you call it a ‘microbe tea’. Is this because it’s like a compost tea?

Biosys does not contain any compost at all, so it’s certainly not a compost tea, but it does have some similarities.

With compost tea, you take very high quality compost (or worm castings) and add them to aerated water with microbial food sources (like molasses and seaweed) to multiply the naturally occurring community of microbes found in the compost.

The liquid you make from this process is referred to as a ‘tea’, mainly because of the brewing process in the water. Our ‘microbe tea’ contains microbial food sources and a range of cultured microorganisms instead of compost, but does not need brewing like aerated compost tea.

How is it that no brewing is needed?

Our approach with Biosys is similar to making and using a compost extract rather than brewing a compost tea.

If you do your research into compost tea, you will soon find out that many experienced makers and users of compost teas now have two general approaches; brewing for foliar spraying and extracting for soil or growing media application.

Brewing aerated compost tea in water with microbial foods is typically done for 24-48 hours with the intention of multiplying the microbes in the solution. Making a compost extract involves adding the compost to water, aerating or simply stirring and agitating the compost for around 15-30 minutes, then add some microbial food sources and apply immediately to the soil.

When making an extract, the goal is to knock the microbes off the compost and put them into a solution so they can then be dispersed onto the soil and become active in the root zone.

The general consensus for these two approaches has come to light after compost tea experts like Elaine Ingham have found better results through extracting compost for soil application and brewing compost for foliar applications.

The current understanding for why this is: when microbes are actively growing during brewing, they produce a sticky substance around themselves; this helps them stick to the leaves when spraying.

However, during the brewing cycle of aerated compost tea you get a proliferation of microorganisms from the compost, but these microbes that flourish in the bubbly water are often not very well suited to life in soil.

You also tend to get less diverse communities of microorganisms due to competition between microbial species in the water.

So with Biosys, we have formulated a unique mix of microorganisms together with food sources for them to do their work where we need them to: in the root zone.

Your first product Charge is a firm favourite with our Soil and Coco growers! How does Biosys fit in with Charge?

The two actually work really well together.

Charge contains organic nutrients that are released slowly to plants… the microorganisms in Biosys improve this nutrient release.

On top of this, the food sources in Biosys activate the growth of microorganisms found in both Charge and Biosys.

Soon after the initial trials with Charge, we noticed that mycorrhizal fungi work really well in ‘Charged-up’ growing media.

This has been backed up by lots of growers over the years who have found they got better growth when using Charge with mycorrhizal fungi together than they did when using either one alone.

When is best to start using Biosys?

During propagation, to get the mycorrhizae spores onto the roots as early as possible.

Plants treated with Biosys during propagation also establish better onto hydroponic systems.

Do you just mix it with your water and nutrients as normal?

Good question. It’s best to go easy with Biosys.

You can use it with water and low strength feeds (no more than EC 1.5 / CF 15, excluding your tap water EC). Use Biosys with high strength feeds and some of the microorganisms won’t become active. I always recommend using it with just water when growing in soil and coco.

Do you need to filter the water before mixing Biosys?

Because Biosys is all about allowing the microbes to flourish in the root zone it is important to use dechlorinated water. Chlorine will kill micro-life.

Let tap stand for 12-24 hours, or aerate vigorously for an hour to allow the chlorine to dissipate.